(no subject)
Played a show at the Barfly tonight, and I must say it went quite well. We only found out we were offered the gig on Monday, and so we managed to pull enough together for a simple 5 song set, second on (out of three).
It wasn't so much that we got a good reaction (it was ok, more explained below), but more that I think we enjoyed ourselves and I felt very confident in a large amount of the music. We played well together (the operative word being together), and it went very comfortably. We usually get up on stage and fuss about, getting quite tense about what song comes next and who starts what and so forth. In this show, the whole thing was quite smooth and simple, we all knew what to play, when to play it and how it should sound. There are still a few minor issues to resolve in some of the songs, but minor issues aside the bulk of our salvageable material has, well, it's been salvaged. Just a few tweaks here and there and I think those 5 songs will be put into the final set and officially called done.
So what tonight's gig represented was not so much a chance for us to go out there and 'wow' any crowds, but just a chance to play for the first time in a while, in a new venue in front of a crowd largely made up of people we'd never met. The other two bands weren't that great. 'The Swell' were pretty decent, had a nice set, but were one of those bands that would wash over you as soon as they finish. It wasn't that they were bad, just that they were ordinary. The second band to play with us were pretty bad, consisting of a bunch of slightly too old men playing some sort of uninteresting punk/rock combination of music. I don't mean to sound arrogant in calling these bands dumb, it's just my take on them, but all in all they were fairly uninspiring.
Now, the audience tonight consisted of three groups of people:
1) Friends and family of the first band
2) Friends and family of the other band
3) People who were there to drink and not listen to the distracting bands in the corner.
Naturally, our reception was pretty muted (with the exception of Dan's friends, who made the most noise all night), with the majority of people giving us a small clap or at most the occasional cheer. While on stage, I wouldn't say this bothered me, but it's always nice to hear a big, warm reception. When we got a fairly short and unassuming one, naturally you start to worry. Usually that worry starts turning to desperation (see Riverside suite gig, where we sucked and we went on stage thinking we sucked). I usually have in the past had a tendency to feel an audience should be one over, should leave having been converted to your music. Tonight though, the audience consisted of mostly 30+ friends of the other two bands, who had no interest exactly in music, just in their friends band's. Therefore, I didn't feel too bad about the stunted reception (it wasn't bad, no boo's or hisses, just not particularly inspiring). The gig was useful more on a personal level than on a practical one, for me personally. For the first time possibly ever, I felt very sure about the music and the members of the band. I felt I could trust every song and every musician at virtually every point. Now and again there was the slightest wrong chord or little loss of movement, but nothing to cause concern. In other words, I felt good about the band as a unit. No longer did I find myself hoping Richard didn't slow down, or Dan forget his part at one point. Instead, I spent the large majority of the show just concentrating on myself and what I was doing, which was great. That's the first proper show we've done in which I've truly felt at home on the stage. No real nerves, no terrifying blank looks from one member to the next as we struggle to think of the next song or how it starts, just smooth, simple, to the point and with a certain amount of passion. I think we held back a little bit, due to the fact we blatantly knew we were just a bit of filler in between the other two bands, which the vast majority of people had really come to see (particularly the first band). I'd rather hold back and play well however, than jump about the stage like a twat whil everyone looked at us like we were fools. As I said, no point preaching to those who don't want to listen.
So, tonight's gig was in some ways unimportant, in other ways very informative and encouraging. I don't think we gained any new fans in this gig, but then I think we were wise enough to know, looking at the crowd, that wasn't really ever on the cards. It was somebody else's show and we were the half time act, but we proved to ourselves all this extra practice and care has paid off quite well, making us much more assured of each other's intuition. We were in tune with each other (emotionally as well as musically!), no worried glances, no trying to explain the song on stage 5 seconds before we play it. It was nice.
I can only think of this rather flimsy way of putting it. Whenever I see a professional act on stage, playing a 'real' gig (y'know, signed band, good venue) you get the feeling they just know the whole thing. There's no sense of complacency or worry or doubt, they launch into every song on time and in sync with each other, they play off of each other's musical energy and the whole thing seems to just, well, flow out of them, like it came from nowhere, like it was always with them.
Tonight, to a certain extent, we had that flow. We knew 'our shit' so to speak, I knew every moment and what should happen, and I knew it would happen tonight.
If we can combine what we had tonight with a little more revision, some more songs and more diversity in a larger set, we'll really be on to something.
It wasn't so much that we got a good reaction (it was ok, more explained below), but more that I think we enjoyed ourselves and I felt very confident in a large amount of the music. We played well together (the operative word being together), and it went very comfortably. We usually get up on stage and fuss about, getting quite tense about what song comes next and who starts what and so forth. In this show, the whole thing was quite smooth and simple, we all knew what to play, when to play it and how it should sound. There are still a few minor issues to resolve in some of the songs, but minor issues aside the bulk of our salvageable material has, well, it's been salvaged. Just a few tweaks here and there and I think those 5 songs will be put into the final set and officially called done.
So what tonight's gig represented was not so much a chance for us to go out there and 'wow' any crowds, but just a chance to play for the first time in a while, in a new venue in front of a crowd largely made up of people we'd never met. The other two bands weren't that great. 'The Swell' were pretty decent, had a nice set, but were one of those bands that would wash over you as soon as they finish. It wasn't that they were bad, just that they were ordinary. The second band to play with us were pretty bad, consisting of a bunch of slightly too old men playing some sort of uninteresting punk/rock combination of music. I don't mean to sound arrogant in calling these bands dumb, it's just my take on them, but all in all they were fairly uninspiring.
Now, the audience tonight consisted of three groups of people:
1) Friends and family of the first band
2) Friends and family of the other band
3) People who were there to drink and not listen to the distracting bands in the corner.
Naturally, our reception was pretty muted (with the exception of Dan's friends, who made the most noise all night), with the majority of people giving us a small clap or at most the occasional cheer. While on stage, I wouldn't say this bothered me, but it's always nice to hear a big, warm reception. When we got a fairly short and unassuming one, naturally you start to worry. Usually that worry starts turning to desperation (see Riverside suite gig, where we sucked and we went on stage thinking we sucked). I usually have in the past had a tendency to feel an audience should be one over, should leave having been converted to your music. Tonight though, the audience consisted of mostly 30+ friends of the other two bands, who had no interest exactly in music, just in their friends band's. Therefore, I didn't feel too bad about the stunted reception (it wasn't bad, no boo's or hisses, just not particularly inspiring). The gig was useful more on a personal level than on a practical one, for me personally. For the first time possibly ever, I felt very sure about the music and the members of the band. I felt I could trust every song and every musician at virtually every point. Now and again there was the slightest wrong chord or little loss of movement, but nothing to cause concern. In other words, I felt good about the band as a unit. No longer did I find myself hoping Richard didn't slow down, or Dan forget his part at one point. Instead, I spent the large majority of the show just concentrating on myself and what I was doing, which was great. That's the first proper show we've done in which I've truly felt at home on the stage. No real nerves, no terrifying blank looks from one member to the next as we struggle to think of the next song or how it starts, just smooth, simple, to the point and with a certain amount of passion. I think we held back a little bit, due to the fact we blatantly knew we were just a bit of filler in between the other two bands, which the vast majority of people had really come to see (particularly the first band). I'd rather hold back and play well however, than jump about the stage like a twat whil everyone looked at us like we were fools. As I said, no point preaching to those who don't want to listen.
So, tonight's gig was in some ways unimportant, in other ways very informative and encouraging. I don't think we gained any new fans in this gig, but then I think we were wise enough to know, looking at the crowd, that wasn't really ever on the cards. It was somebody else's show and we were the half time act, but we proved to ourselves all this extra practice and care has paid off quite well, making us much more assured of each other's intuition. We were in tune with each other (emotionally as well as musically!), no worried glances, no trying to explain the song on stage 5 seconds before we play it. It was nice.
I can only think of this rather flimsy way of putting it. Whenever I see a professional act on stage, playing a 'real' gig (y'know, signed band, good venue) you get the feeling they just know the whole thing. There's no sense of complacency or worry or doubt, they launch into every song on time and in sync with each other, they play off of each other's musical energy and the whole thing seems to just, well, flow out of them, like it came from nowhere, like it was always with them.
Tonight, to a certain extent, we had that flow. We knew 'our shit' so to speak, I knew every moment and what should happen, and I knew it would happen tonight.
If we can combine what we had tonight with a little more revision, some more songs and more diversity in a larger set, we'll really be on to something.